at the end of the month for health reasons. the 85-year-old said the strength deteriorateed "to the extent i have to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry." >> he feels he carried the cross to the point he can and is calm and said now i will pass it on. >> for the 1 billion catholics around the world the news came out of nowhere. >> that is the best thing to do yes. >> elected in 2005 pope benedict was the favorite to fill the big shoes left by the beloveed pope juan paul ii, he never veered from his beliefs, condemning gay marriage, ordaining women and allowing priests to marry. the eight year tenure was one of the shortest in history, but it was not without controversy. the vatican continued to face

scathing criticism for the accusations of sexual abuse by priests. in 2008 the pope said the scandal in the united states made him feel deeply ashamed. during a visit he met privately with victims of pedophile priests. >> in words of man could describe the pain. >> catholic cardinals will gather in rome in march to elect the new pope. it is likely his successor could be in place by easter sunday. >> many betting firms are placing odds on who will be the next pope. right now, cardinal peter turkson of ghana is the favorite. he is 65 and would be the first black pope. he is head of the vatican justice and peace bureau. other favorites include someone from nigeria. >> the shockwaves reached to the bay area. we are joined live with that

part of the story. a lost catholics wonder of the timing of the announcement. >> two days before lent, very holy time for the catholic church, but a spokesman at the diocese thinks it shows great humility he recognized he could not do the job. >> catholics attending mass this morning at st. mary's cathedral say it was a surprise to hear that pope benedict xvi resigned. the announcement came at 2:00 a.m. local time so they heard about it from the priest who said mass this only. >> shock, really. he is an old man. looking forward to have a young pope. >> parish owners were not alone. the church leadership at the archdiocese was stunned. >> shocked. shocked. >> pope benedict said he is resigning because of his age and deteriorating health but he is the first pope to do so in 600

years and one questions whether this was the right move. >> he should not leave even if he does not have good health. >> it is a valid opinion and that is what john paul ii did but i think if my opinion this is really an act of boldness on the part of this pope and, also, an act of great humility. >> the church will turn its attention to the successor, and a bay area man will be part of that decision. the cardinal will be in voting on the next pope. >> a lot of times someone who is appointed a cardinal which 10 great thing in itself never gets to vote for a pope so this is a big deal. >> the archbishop of san francisco released a written statement praising the pope for his service and the archdiocese says parishes will pray for the

pope and his successor. >> a clergyman from california will vote even for the next pope, although he is banned from public duties because of the way he handle the sexual abuse cases. cardinal mahony headed the archdiocese of los angeles and the current archbishop banished him from duties after he found out he dismissed sexual abuse cases of priests. >> after the resignation on february 28, a secret group of cardinals begins in 15 to 20 days in manner. the vatican hopes to have a new pope by march 31, easter, of this year. we will have continuing coverage on the resignation of pope benedict xvi. you can fine the newest information on abc7news.com.

>> concord police want to find vandal would slashed the tires on dozens of cars over the weekend in the valley district between saturday night and sunday morning, all four tires were slashed on the damage cars. anyone with information about the vandalism should call the police. you can remain anonymous. >> copper thieves are contributing to the bay area traffic jams tearing out copper wiring that powers traffic signals. they have stolen copper from 359 meters in the bay area. the cost to replace each is $35,000 and caltran is fighting back and is using aluminum wire rather than copper which is less lucrative. >> the ship pilot for the worst oil spill in to decades is suing the coast guard to get his license back. our media partner reports that the captain has filed a lawsuit

against the u.s. department of homeland security claiming his civil rights were violated when he was not allowed to renew his license. the board found him at fault for crashing a cargo ship into a tower of the bay bridge in 2007. 53,000 gallons of thick fuel spilled into the bay. >> it has been a busy to days for specialized team in the fire department. they are trained for precise urban rescues but rarely get a chance to perform. now we are live in san jose with this story you will see only on abc7 news. the san jose fire department rescue team was behind me an hour ago rescuing a man who was trapped in a tree 30' above the river. they trained for these type of search-and-rescue operations but they rarely perform them. in the last 24 hours alone they have made two of these rescues.

it took 20 men to pull this man to safety after he was clinging to a tree branch for five hours 30' over the river in san jose. he was running from people when he jumped over the bridge to safety but landed 6' down in a tree below. >> he called 9-1-1 around 4:00 a.m. and they looked for him and could not find him. >> it was 3 1/2 hours later he called 9-1-1 again and they discovered him yelling, losing grasp on the limb and realized they needed to call for backup. in came the urban search-and-rescue company. >> we did have hauling systems we could use to lower people down and attach a harness and lift him. >> this crew is a unique and liely skilled company trained for these time of high ankle rescues but it is rare they get

calls to use that specific expertise. in the last two days, they have had two of these type of rescues. yesterday, this crash occurred 150 down an embankment and it took 25 personnel, two hours to rescue the trapped driver. >> on a large-scale, these are infrequent, but our crews are highly trained in this and this is what they do and why we have them in the city. >> the victim was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries and hypothermia after sitting here for more than five hours dangling in the tree. it is up to the police department to question him and figure out how he ended up in that position. >> major tornado damage in the south but no deaths. what mississippi's governor thinks of the efforts to keep

everyone safe. >> the widow of joe paterno speaks out for the first time. ♪ we were skipping stones and letting go ♪

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>> people in mississippi and alabama are cleaning up after 15 separate tornadoes hit the states. hundreds of homes and buildings were left mangled including on the university of mississippi miss campus with 60 people hurt.

the governor says no one was killed in part because people were given enough warning a tornado was headed their way. >> southern california is on education over the massive manhunt for an ex-cop wanted in the murders of three people. a $1 million reward is offered for information leading to christopher dorner's capture. police have responded to several tips but there have been no confirmed sightings. he has been on the run since vowing revenge on the lapd last week. authorities are trying to trace a phone call, a man claiming to be dorner called the father of a victim to taunt him. and a former f.b.i. director supported the thoughts that penn state con vealed top abuse

allegations against jerry sandusky. and today, sue paterno tells katie how she felt about the accusations. >> i was looking forward to the report, to be honest with you. i thought, we will get the truth, the right answers. then, we will know why everything occurred, that occurred. unfortunately, i wanted it alone and he went through his report, he did not know joe. thissent what the man i knew. this isn't the man anyone knew. i was totally devastated. >> you can watch the exclusive interview with sue paterno today at 3:00 only on abc7. >> mike nicco will be with us coming up to look at forecast but right now it is warm and dry, sunny out there, will there be a change in the pattern in. >> the new plan to ban repeat

offenders from riding bart and how you can weigh in on that proposal today. >> they are getting washed, dried, fluffed and exercised, a look at the dog

>> cupertino, concord, wine country and all the bay area this is abc7 news. >> a rocket with an earth observation satellite blasted off from the central california coast an hour ago. the at last 5 has a satellite which is on a mission to keep a continuous eye on the earth's resources. it will track glaciers, forest fires and crops and coastline. >> and now the busy bart stations commute could be easier. this is embarcardero station possibly in five years. there is a major expansion on project they are trying to include, with new elevators and stairs and you could exit on both sides of the train. the proposed $900 million expansion is in response to increased ridership.

changes to the montgomery street station are also in the work. bart will hold the first of community meetings tonight to talk about whether to ban repeat offenders from the trains. a new law allows the agency to file restraining orders against vandals, cheaters and protesters who are cited three or more times in 60 days. >> the high profile web company godaddy is opening the new office today, in sunnyvale, to try to attract more high-tech talent. godaddy is leasing more than 89,000 square feet at the office complex known for their racy super bowl commercials plans to fill 40 positions locally. we posted the information on our website at abc7news.com under oh spree -- "see it on tv."

>> mike, how is it looking? >> looking at the models for 14 or 15 days there is no strong storm to break the drought rain-wise or snow in the sierra, which is getting smaller and smaller, and that includes the entire year we are having issues at 78 percent to this date. we need a lot more. the rain, you can see it is long gone. a lot of sunshine as we look from mount tamalpais to the ocean beach, and beautiful picture there, and i will show you what it look like from south beach across the bay bridge to oakland and berkeley and how clear the air is. check out the five-day "spare the air" forecast and not supposed to have any. so no threat of worry about working in it or being outside. now, it is dry outside, and the

lack of cloud cover, also. the temperatures show we were freezing this morning. sonoma, napa, livermore, pretty close in fairfield and concord at 33 and a lot of mid-30's to upper 30's to the coast, and san francisco is the odd number out there at 46 degrees. now, a look at what is going on right now temperatures are soaring in the north bay with a down sloping wind from higher elevation to lower elevation, it compresses and heats and you are in the 60's while we are in the 50's. to the monterey bay and inland from 48 in santa cruz to 55 in monterey. the he lights include sunny and mild this afternoon. clean and clear and chilly tonight and a few isolated areas could see frost inland. there you go, no strong storms for the next seven days is how far we will go. napa is three degrees warmer than average, livermore, too, oakland, and redwood city and san francisco, all where we

should be in the low-to-mid 60's. to the coast, we should hit the low 60's today with that land breeze, the offshore wind, chasing the clouds in the cooler weather away from us of the monterey with a few spots in the 50's and 357, the rest of bay inland, low-to-mid 60's. checking out the state, low-to-mid 60's through the central valley, 39 and sunshine at talk show, and cooler san diego, 58, and low-to-mid 60's and palm springs. tonight, mid-30's again and 44 in san francisco for the warm spot. watch the wind pushing the clouds away from the coast as the high pressure takes over and it is mild to warm land breeze we will have all week in the forecast. each day we go up one or two degrees compared to the day before, so, low-to-mid 60's tomorrow, and low-to-upper 60's thursday and near 70 on friday. we pull back a little bit on saturday and sunday but still at

average if not a little bit above. great weather for valentine's day. >> the super bowl of dog shows is whatting today and former in new york city. the westminster kennel dog show with the best stuff and the judges start with hounds, toy and herding breeds and "best in show" is awarded tomorrow. speaking of awards, still ahead, the big winners at the grammys. ♪ breakup ♪ call me, i love you

>> at 3:00 on katie the first interview with the widow of former penn state coach joe paterno, speaks out for the first time sin the shocking sex abuse scandal rocked penn state's legendary football program. then on abc7 news at 4, san francisco's rare river otto is getting too popular and now all the attention is a problem. a story you will only see on abc7, insight into the kevin collins missing child case to a woman wrote was good friends with the man now considered the main suspect. >> the music industry celebrated its own with a night of powerful performances at the grammys. ♪ i say i hate you ♪ we break up ♪ you call me >> and the first performance was "we are never ever ever ever ever getting back together."

and best artist, that went to "we are young," and they are

[dramatic music] ♪ [cheers and applause] >> hello, baby. hello, everybody, and welcome to millionaire. not only is today's first contestant a die-hard trivia buff, he is also a classically trained opera singer.

from philadelphia, please welcome paul reese. hey, paul. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, everyone. >> oh, wow, opera, huh? let me hear what you got. >> indeed, absolutely. from mozart's le nozze di figaro. ♪ non piu andrai ♪ ♪ farfallone amoroso ♪ ♪ notte e giorno ♪ ♪ d'intorno girando ♪ ♪ delle belle ♪ ♪ turbando ♪ ♪ il riposo ♪ ♪ narcisetto ♪ ♪ adoncino d'amor ♪ >> wow. [cheers and applause] that was great. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> wow. all right, paul, well, you've come to a good place if you want to make some money. we got $1 million waiting for you. let's take a look at the money in your round 1. >> indeed. >> okay, computer, please randomize the dollar amounts. now let's take a look at your categories. computer, please randomize the categories. and now that everything is all shuffled, are you ready?